Wife: The work of the artist who painted the portrait of my grandparents 50 years ago has become quite popular lately, so the portrait has recently become valuable. But since these sorts of artistic fads fade rapidly, the practical thing to do would be to sell the portrait while it is still worth something, and thereby enable our daughter to attend the college she has chosen.
Husband: How could you make such a suggestion? That painting is the only thing you own that belonged to your grandparents. I don’t think it’s a very good painting, but it has great sentimental value. Besides, you owe it to our daughter to keep it in the family as a link to her family’s past.
3. Which one of the following principles, if established, does most to justify the husband’s reply?
(A) Gifts offered as sentimental tokens of affection should not be accepted if the recipient intends to sell them later for profit.
(B) A beautiful work of art is more valuable than the money it could be sold for, whatever the amount.
(C) It is more important for parents to provide their children with tangible links to the family’s past than it is to enable them to attend the college of their choice.
(D) Children and grandchildren have a duty to preserve family heirlooms only if they have promised their parents or grandparents that they would do so.
(E) Providing one’s children with an education is more important than providing them with material goods, even if the goods have sentimental value.
4. The husband uses which one of the following argumentative techniques in replying to the wife’s suggestion?
(A) taking issue with the practicality of her suggestion
(B) questioning her aesthetic judgment
(C) claiming that the reasons she gives are based on emotions rather than on rational considerations
(D) asserting that the evidence she cites in support of her suggestion is false
(E) invoking a competing obligation that he judges to override her practical considerations